8 steps to get in running shape for beginners

Introduction: Getting in running shape can feel challenging and exhausting. This article will help you tackle the necessary aspects and running styles (workouts) to get in running shape fast, safely, and effectively. Running can dramatically improve your lifestyle by strengthening your bones, managing your weight, making your body more efficient at rest, adding time to your life and even improving your cognitive abilities.

1. Follow or build a schedule

It is important to have a structured training plan to help you gain a clear sight of your goals. A visual of your goals and the approach will simply help you achieve them. Knowing what to do and when is essential for steady progress and consistent results. If you are a beginner you should not schedule your runs too often or you may injure yourself but rather give yourself rest days if you feel tired or sore at first, so your body can adapt to that new stimulus.

2. Warm-up and stretch:

Firstly a proper warm-up prepares your body aerobically by circulating oxygen throughout the body. Not only that but it gradually increases the temperature of your muscles and reduces any soreness if any, running with cool muscles can lead to injury or less muscle contraction. As a result of a high muscle temperature, it opens up and increases blood flow through arteries into the muscles, ultimately preparing them for activity. Not to mention that it gradually increases your heart rate, also preparing you for activity. Your joints will become less prone to injury as they loosen up. Lastly, it stimulates your brain and gets it ready for activity, this will help you focus, regardless of running on long runs, fast runs, or sprinting. On the other hand, stretching focuses more on the muscle's elasticity, and a little stretching keeps your muscles loose and ready to go. However, too much stretching will ultimately weaken your muscles by reducing strength and power. Your muscles act as a spring, too much tension will cause strain and not enough tension will cause the spring to lose energy. You should only stretch a little, before a run to reduce tightness, just a couple of times and that's it!

What should a proper warm-up look like?

During a proper warm-up, you should activate all of your lower body muscles that will be used, even ones slightly being used. If you are going for a run after sitting down for a while start with walking or jump roping to stimulate blood flow to your muscles, then do some short accelerations, not at a full sprint. This ensures your muscles are activated anaerobically and aerobically. You want your heart rate to be slightly elevated, your legs to feel warm, and to be breathing more. That's how you know you're ready for a run. If running faster or more intensely warm up even more, do a couple of laps on a track or easy running, then do a dynamic warm-up consisting of some high knees, leg swings, lunges, shuffle, or whatever you choose. Focus on 3 different dynamic warm-up strategies then do some accelerations and you will be good to go.

3. Ease into it

When starting out it can be tempting to go fast or go far but it's obvious you will injure yourself that way therefore you will have to take more time off. If you never run before or starting up from a long break, try to go for a short run and see how it feels. Start with a mile or two. If you feel that you are out of breath try the run-walk tactic. The run-walk tactic is the best tactic for getting in shape and it literally consists of a combination of running/jogging and walking. You can start out with a run or jog, whatever pace feels like it fits you and when you begin to feel out of breath, walk as you recover a bit and repeat when you catch your breath. You can also structure your run-walk plan for example if you are on a track try running for one lap, then walk for half a lap and repeat that for 3-4 times. If you feel good you can always change your plan, for example, jog 2 laps and walk one lap, repeat 3-4 times. If you feel an injury come on, then stop the run. Injuries are common to beginners since their bodies have to adapt. Getting through that first phase of getting in shape is the hardest part, then it's smooth sailing. However, that does not mean you're immune to injury. When you get in very excellent shape you can actually become more prone again as you push yourself.

4. Consistency

Keeping your runs consistent will ensure continuous improvement. One run or running whenever you feel like it is not going to get you in shape. Summarily to having a schedule you need to have structure however it's not knowing what to do and when, it's knowing how often to do it. As a beginner, you should be running 3-4 times a week. When starting out a rest day between each run is best for the first week. You may even be sore when starting out so it's fine to rest more until you can adapt and not become very sore, then you should focus on consistency.

5. Progressive overload

Once you begin to feel like you are in better shape after training then you should ramp up your training as you get better. Progressive overload is when over time you increase the workout intensity, volume, or frequency as your body adapts to the previous environment. Progressive overload is necessary to continuously get better, although as you do get better you may see that your rate of progress may slow down and that's completely normal as you reach optimal fitness. Once you feel like your run-walk training is no longer challenging then go the whole workout without walking. Or increase how many miles you do, or even run faster or even more often. Many people like to see improvement and get too excited too soon and ramp up their training too fast, as a result, they will overdo it and feel fatigued or they will get injured. It's a slow process and you should only make your workouts harder when your original workouts feel easier than normal or too easy.

6. Cooldown

This may not apply in the gym as much but a cooldown after an aerobic workout like a run can be critical when maximizing progress. Right after a run, especially an intense run your heart rate is elevated and so is blood flow. You want to slowly decrease it to prepare your body to recover. Your cooldown should be easy and slow so you don't become dizzy or prone to injury. Cooldowns will help you in the long run with injury prevention and maximizing upcoming workouts as a result of the better recovery cooldowns offer.

7. Proper diet

Your diet controls everything. Without a good diet, you are prone to injury and you certainly will not maximize progress. Your diet needs to include lots of protein to rebuild damaged muscle fibers. High-protein foods include chicken, salmon, turkey, bison, eggs, greek yogurt, etc. You also definitely need carbohydrates since it is converted into energy in your body to fuel your muscles. Healthy high-carb foods include rice, bread, organic pasta, potatoes, root vegetables, organic bread, etc. Fats play a role in reinforcing your joints and it is another source of fuel. Healthy high-fat foods include avocado, sausage, cheese, fish, nuts, seeds, eggs, olive oil, etc. Yes, fruits and vegetables are necessary too since they provide other vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals your body needs during exercise, they also contain sugars which break down into glucose which is also used for fuel for your cells, more specifically anaerobic fuel but it is definitely used during aerobic activity as well. Lastly, high-sodium natural foods and electrolytes are good when sweating so you don't become deficient, they are responsible for muscle and nerve function. High sodium foods include, bread, soups, and cheese and electrolytes come from fruits like bananas and fish like salmon and you can find electrolytes in electrolyte packs or Gatorade.

Water: Dehydration is a rookie mistake since it is one of the most important aspects of getting in shape. The human body is made up of roughly 60% water and muscles are made up of roughly 76%. Think of your body as a sponge, if it dries out then it can't be used nor can it bend and it will crack easier therefore your body is more prone to injury, if it is soaked then it can flex, bend, and be used for the job. In order for your muscles to function it needs water, plenty of it. Plus when running you are both burning water internally and externally sweating it off. If you want optimal performance stay hydrated since dehydration can cause fatigue and slow you down. You want to try and drink 0.5 ounces of water per pound of body weight a day, for example, you weigh 200 lbs, therefore you want to drink 100 ounces of water a day, which is equivalent to roughly 3 liters a day.

8. Rest

The human body does not get stronger during a workout in fact it breaks down, however, it gets stronger during the rest phase. When you work out you cause micro-tears in the muscle fibers and when they heal, they grow stronger, however, the only way for them to heal is through rest. Not only are you recovering but you are refueling as your muscles can absorb more energy for the next session, that is if you are eating a proper diet. Very beginners should give at least a day's rest between each run, after some experience you are good to run every day for up to 5 days a week as long as you are getting a good night's sleep. Competitive runners may run up to 6 days a week, some super competitive runners can get away with 7 days a week but that is extremely taxing on the body if you don't have years of experience.

Sleep: Sleep will accelerate the recovery process. It will also reset your brain and give you the focus, motivation, and energy necessary to experience a great workout. Sleep releases hormones like HGH (Human Growth Hormone) which is responsible for muscle protein synthesis ultimately repairing damaged muscle fibers from a cellular standpoint. As a result, it reduces the risk of energy and will speed up your progress.

Conclusion: By following all of these steps you can learn the process to become a better runner. By embracing an active lifestyle you can decrease the risk of any health-related problems and build a superior body. Starting running is an excellent decision to fortify your body and strengthen your mindset. That is if you can make the decision. Yes, getting in shape is not a walk in the park but if you follow these steps, you can at least make it fun and a little easier!

Disclaimer: As an experienced writer and a very competitive runner myself I know a thing or two about getting and staying in shape so my goal is to pass my knowledge on to you. However, if you have any health concerns get in touch with your doctor before implementing any of this into your life. Remember always properly warm up and don't be careless during your workouts! If you feel an injury back off, recover, and let it heal.